The Guide to the Grifter
by Links6
Summary: 2nd in my series. A look into why Sophie is... just Sophie. Why she is the way she is and why she really left. Lyrics: 'Pokerface' by Lady Gaga


Disclaimer: HA! Wish I owned Leverage, that'd be the best day EVER! But, unfortunately, I still don't and that's why I'm posting at FANfiction!! Whoopwhoop!! I don't own 'Pokerface' either, Lady Gaga and all her awesome producers do. .... damn.

**Poker Face**

**I wanna hold em' like they do in Texas Plays**

**Fold em' let em' hit me raise it baby stay with me (I love it)**

"My name is Sophie Devereaux" I introduced myself, in a way only a true Grifter knows how. Low, alluring and seductive... without trying, of course. I never need to _try. _This is my nature. My identity revolves around this. I don't need a name, or a fixed personality, nationality or accent. All I need is the simple rules of behavioral psychology.

**  
Lovegame and intuition play the cards with Spades to start**

**  
And after he's been hooked I'll play the one that's on his heart**

"You had me at 'Hello'" I told Nate. It's easier to lie than to tell the truth... but Nate deserves to know. He doesn't read well into someone's profile and doesn't notice subtle hints. Every time I brush my fingers over his hand, sit close to him, wear the dress he likes or even share some of my personal life with him, it's like he doesn't even notice. He just takes it in stride and accept things as they are. That's what I like about him. He's honest.... He's the good guy. Someone who is _real, _stable and so completely unaware of everything around him.

**  
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, ohh-oh-e-ohh-oh-oh,**

**  
I'll get him hot, show him what I've got**

"I waited for you" I reminded him. I've been in love with him since even before he met his wife. And I did accept that. I respected that fact. I kept my distance after they were married and gave him all the time he needed to recover after they divorced. But, after his son died, the old Nate Ford I knew had died too. The Insurance Agent was gone and the Revengeful Drunk had taken his place. But, I stayed at his side and tried to help his as best I could. He did start to find himself again. It had taken a long time, but he did.

**Can't read my,  
Can't read my  
No he can't read my poker face**

**  
(she's got to love nobody)**

"This was interesting. It's the first time a job depended on you telling they truth. Maybe now you can stop being Sophie Devereaux" Nate had suggested once the job was over. But, what Nate doesn't know is... all I have _is _Sophie Devereaux.... and Katherine, Alice, Elizabeth, Karen or Michelle... They're all a part of me. They are me. I am all of them. I can be anyone, or no-one. That's what I'm good at. I can have twenty aliases and keep each of their identities as their own... as my own. Katherine, the obedient but cynical accountant. Maybe, Alice, the cheery secretary who lives with her mother. Elizabeth, the heiress who has a phobia of all insects... and so many more.

**I wanna roll with him a hard pair we will be**

**  
A little gambling is fun when you're with me I love it)**

I can be anyone, but being me? Just me? Can anyone say that they have only once face that they wear everyday? I doubt anyone on earth could say that... Besides, Sophie isn't even my real name... but that doesn't matter really, does it? I guess it makes it seem romantic when I compare it to Shakespeare, "A Rose by any other name will still smell as sweet". I guess that makes me a hopeless romantic.

**  
Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun**

**  
And baby when it's love if its not rough it isn't fun, fun**

**  
I'll get him hot, show him what I've got**

"It's Sophie..... or Alice or Karen ...Elizabeth... Katherine... Michelle." I muttered as my, now, ex-boyfriend walked out of the cafe. He didn't even give me a chance. Or maybe, I didn't give him a chance. I don't know how to let my walls go. I wasn't even aware that they were there to begin with. No matter how many jobs we do. How many people we save. How much of a 'Good Guy' I become.. I don't know how to tell the truth anymore. I can't answer anything directly or simply anymore. I can't do it. I don't consciously think about lying... for me, it's just a natural reaction. A habit.

**  
Can't read my  
Can't read my  
No he can't read my poker face**

**(she's got to love nobody)  
**

"I'm meeting a client tomorrow morning. You'll be there, right?" Nate said. I asked Nate whether or not he ... not the team, but did _he _need me there. Nate never answered. I waited for him for over ten years. Ten years. Ten years and he can't tell me that he needs me there. And that is all I needed. I had locked the door after Nate had left. I sank down to the floor and cried for the first time since....

**I won't tell you that I love you**

**  
Kiss or hug you**

**  
Cause I'm bluffin' with my muffin**

**  
I'm not lying I'm just stunnin' with my love-glue-gunning**

"_I'm not coming back", _even with all the eloquence and preliminaries, that's all it boiled down to. I just told my team that, even though I really miss them and I already miss working the jobs we had together...

**  
Just like a chick in the casino**

**  
Take your bank before I pay you out**

**  
I promise this, promise this**

**  
Check this hand cause I'm marvelous**

I can't live like this anymore. To keep up this pretense that I'm alright. I can't do this anymore. I've been patient and I never pushed him. But, I never could get Nate to admit his feelings towards me. Maybe he doesn't even posses them. And to live for another ten, twenty, thirty years and never having the man you love telling you that he loves you?

... When hearing it is all you needed to hear.

I would kill to have Nate say it to me just once ...

**  
No he can't read my poker face**

**  
(she's got to love nobody)**

Just say it once, "I love you".


End file.
